This article is from page 22 of the 2013-10-22 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 22 JPG
CLARE County Council has been urged to consider new bye-laws to prevent the locking of gates at private burial grounds.
The issue was raised at the October meeting of Clare County Council. In a motion, Cllr Cathal Crowe (FF) stated, “Where privately-owned lands have to be traversed to access a burial ground I propose that, in the interest of public accessibility, this council adopts a protocol that prohibits the locking of gates. If neces- sary, I propose the amendment of an existing bye-law or the drafting of a new bye-law to facilitate this.”
Cllr Crowe told the meeting that his proposed amendment would seek the outright prohibition of locking graveyard gates or the locking of gates on a case specific basis.
He said the issue could first be considered by the Strategic Policy Committee (SPC) in conjunction with the local area office.
He said that while there is good pedestrian access to most public graveyards, the problem of locked gates in private burial grounds affected most areas of the county.
In reply, Gerard Dollard, Director of Services and Ennis Town Manager, stated, “In such instances, and more often than not, such land is used for the grazing of livestock. It is understandable that an entrance gate, particularly onto a public road would be locked in order to ensure that animals do not stray onto the public road.”
He continued, “Where gates are locked, the landowner co-operates by erecting a sign specifying the location of keys and on request arranges for the distribution of keys to, for example, the local undertaker, community group, registrar, caretaker, mobility impaired individuals who are regular visitors to a burial ground etc. Usually, a burial ground can also be accessed by a stile at the entrance.
Mr Dollard said the securing of gates is seen as necessary in some burial grounds in order to discourage anti-social behaviour.
“It is clear that the motion refers to privately-owned lands and it is my understanding that the council cannot regulate the access over such lands by way of bye-law,” he added.